by Sabre Rose
We enter a wooden building far away from all the others and are tossed to the ground. I lift my head, opening the one eye that I can, and find myself staring at Ryker, hands bound and straining at the rope, his curses muffled by the gag in his mouth.
There’s so much anguish in his eyes when they fall on me and Everly. Anguish and guilt. They roll back in his head, tossing and turning like waves as the storm clouds gather.
Sebastian laughs. “Oh, do quieten down, Ryker. All you’ll do is alert some poor unsuspecting soul and bring them into this mess as well. You don’t want the pain of more people on your hands, do you?”
With his fingers still twisted in her hair, Everly sobs as he drags her toward her brother. Her hands claw at his, desperate to relieve some of the tension on her scalp.
“It’s okay, Everly. You can make as much noise as you like. I want your brother to hear your suffering and know that it is all his fault. I want him to hear your cries of pain. My parents can’t hear you, and even if they could, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t care. Then again, you never know. Nothing my father does makes sense. He lacks…” Sebastian doesn’t finish, merely taps his finger against his head.
He looks around the stables, his eyes gleaming when he spots more rope. I start to yell, the noise coming out distorted by the gag stuffed in my mouth. I don’t know whether telling him the truth will make things better or worse, but I at least have to try. I have to do something.
“What’s that, Mia?” Sebastian stalks towards me, dragging Everly behind him. “You want Ryker to hear your cries too? Pity we’ve already had so much fun without him, isn’t it?” He grips the knot at the back of my head and yanks it upward, taking with it tufts of my hair.
“You can’t hurt her!” I ignore the pain. I ignore everything but him.
Sebastian blinks. “I think I can. In fact,” he changes his grip from her hair to her throat, “I know I can.”
I look from Ryker to Sebastian and take a deep breath, scared of how the knowledge of what I’m about to say will affect Sebastian.
“She’s your sister.”
The words come out rushed, but they stop Sebastian in his tracks. In fact, all three turn to look at me, questions held in their eyes. Ryker starts shaking his head as though he thinks it’s something I’ve made up on the spot, something meant to distract Sebastian, and it’s a bad idea.
“Lily, one of the girls who your father keeps, she’s her mother. She’s the one who told me.”
Sebastian narrows his eyes. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson about lying, my sweet songbird. Your voice is better used in other ways.”
Ryker has stopped pulling against his restraints. His eyes are locked on mine, pain and confusion rippling through them. It’s beginning to dawn on him that I’m telling the truth, that this isn’t some elaborate lie.
“She’s your father’s daughter, Sebastian. She’s your sister, your blood.”
“You’re lying!” Sebastian lets go of Everly and she falls to the ground, drawing in desperate gasps of air. Sebastian looms over me, his entire body quivering with rage. “Admit you’re lying.”
His hand strikes my cheek and I taste blood. Again. But I merely turn my head back to him, looking straight into his deranged eyes.
“I’m not,” I say simply. “You know she ran away, don’t you? When you were little. You know she ran away, and your father did everything he could to get her back. And it wasn’t long after he got her back that Everly and Ryker came to live with you, was it? I know you won’t remember. You were little. But you’ve heard enough stories. Surely, if you think about it hard enough, you’ll know what I’m saying is true. Why else would your father have kept them around all these years? Why else would he look after Everly so well? Why else would your mother hate Lily with such a passion?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “No, it’s not true.”
“Just think how your father will react knowing that you’ve hurt his daughter. His only daughter.”
Sebastian starts pacing, the gun hanging loosely in his fingers.
Everly looks to Ryker and then back to Sebastian, confusion clouding her eyes. “It’s not true, is it? Who is she talking about? Who is Lily?”
“Of course it’s not true,” Sebastian hisses. “She’s saying it to distract me. She’s saying it because she thinks it will bring some form of compassion or empathy for you. It won’t.”
I pull myself to my feet. “I’m not lying, Sebastian. I’m telling the truth.”
He runs his hands through his hair, the gun still grasped between his fingers. Ryker sees me looking. He sees the way my eyes focus on the gun, on the way he’s holding it, on his distracted and demented stance. He shakes his head again. I take a step forward. Everly is still cowering on the ground, unsure who or what to believe.
I take another step closer. If I could just ignore the pain, if I could cut myself off from it, could I overpower him? Could I wrestle the gun from his hand and use it against him?
I’m just about to lunge toward him when he notices the movement out of the corner of his eye and whirls the barrel around to point at me.
“Don’t,” he warns. “You’ll regret it if you do.”
I hold up my hands and settle myself back on the ground, kneeling at his feet. “You don’t have to do this, Sebastian. Let’s go find your father, get this all cleared up. He’ll tell you the truth.”
“I don’t need my father! And even if what you are saying is true, Ryker is still nothing. He is no one, just the son of a whore.” He alters the aim of the gun, swinging it around to point at Ryker’s head.
“Sebastian don’t!” Everly flings herself at his feet.
He kicks her, and she scuttles away, bringing her knees to her chest and sobbing. The gun shakes in Sebastian’s hands.
“Fuck! This wasn’t the plan. You’re ruining my fun!” Sebastian grips his hair between his fingers again, tugging the roots, the gun haphazardly swaying in all directions.
Everly lets out a wail of relief as Sebastian starts pacing, searching the cupboards and containers spread about the stables. Finally, he pulls something out and smiles in triumph.
“Dirty smokers.” He laughs manically and holds a lighter into the air. “Here’s the thing about these old stables. They’re made of wood. My father refuses to use them anymore so they’re good for nothing but storage.” He kicks a bale of hay and dust flies into the air. “Mia, Everly, outside.”
I shake my head, scooting backward on my knees, closer to Ryker. A straight-faced Sebastian merely presses the gun against Everly’s head.
“Now,” he orders as she gets to her feet, quickly walking towards the door. Sebastian follows her.
“I’m so sorry, Ryker. I’m so sorry,” she manages to stammer out between sobs.
He’s shaking his head, urging her to go, tears of anger in his eyes.
“I’m waiting,” Sebastian calls to me. “Don’t make me come back there and get you.”
Tearing my gaze away from Ryker, I limp outside, desperately scanning the area for help, someone, anyone, but we are alone, too far away from the other stables for anyone to notice, or care.
Sobs rack my body. Panic and terror overwhelm me. Sebastian’s lost all sense of reason. I run over to where Everly is cowering against a fence and wrap my arms around her.
“It’s going to be okay,” I lie. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it true?” she asks. “Am I really his sister?”
Sebastian disappears around a corner for a moment and I consider running, my body spiking with adrenaline, but he’s back before I get the chance to move, carrying a petrol can.
“I was going to leave this for a little later, after we’d had some fun, but your recent revelations have put a spanner in the works, so to speak.”
He starts pouring the petrol at the entrance to the stables, occasionally stopping to wave the gun in our direction, causing fresh wails of panic to spill from Everly. She clutches
onto my arm so hard I’m sure her nails will draw blood.
“You’ve got to stop him,” Everly sobs. “You can’t let him hurt Ryker.”
Sebastian turns his back to us once again, tossing the now empty petrol can aside. Juggling the gun in one hand and the lighter in the other, he flicks it and a small flame appears. His eyes are wild and demented. He’s gone to a place from which there is no return.
“You’ve got to help me, okay?” I whisper to her. “When I say now, we’ll charge at him okay?”
She nods, eyes wide.
Sebastian turns slowly. “What are you girls whispering about over there?”
Everly’s head changes from nods to shakes. “Nothing. We weren’t talking about anything.”
His gaze sears into me as he narrows his eyes, but then he turns back to the stables, bending down to hold the lighter against a wisp of hay.
I turn to Everly. “Now.”
We leap to our feet, covering the few paces quickly. I jump onto Sebastian’s back, shoving him to the ground just as the flames lick over the ground and into the stables at lightning speed. The gun falls from his hand and Everly grabs it. Sebastian tosses me from him with a roar, getting to his feet and kicking me in the stomach repeatedly. The pain is so intense, I curl into a ball, covering my head with my hands.
“Stop!” Everly's voice is shaky but loud. The gun is in her hands.
Sebastian ignores her, kneeling to peel my hands away from my head and wrap his fingers around my throat. I clutch at them desperately, but I lack the strength to prise them away.
“Stop!” Everly yells again, this time her voice is stronger and louder. She steps closer to him, lining the gun up with his head. It quivers with her fear.
Sebastian lets go of me and rises to his feet. His movements are smooth and deliberate, slinking towards Everly like he’s stalking prey.
“You’re not going to kill me,” he growls.
She lifts her chin, backing away from him ever so slightly. “Probably not. But that doesn’t mean I won’t shoot.” She adjusts the aim of the gun lower on his body.
He takes another step forward and she fires the gun into the ground, her whole body recoiling with shock. But her hands no longer tremble.
Sebastian stops walking and raises his hands, taking her a little more seriously. By now the flames are leaping up the walls of the stables. Shakily, I get to my feet, wincing as pain slices through me. I’m unable to stand straight, but I’m still able to move, dragging myself toward the stables. Toward Ryker.
“Keep the gun on him, Everly. Don’t take your eyes off him for a second. I’m going to get Ryker.”
She does as I instruct, keeping her gaze fixed on Sebastian who is now kneeling before her, hands raised into the air, and nods.
Sebastian smiles. “So, little sister. Are you going to shoot me?”
I stumble into the stables. Already smoke is thick in the air. Falling to my hands and knees, I crawl over to Ryker and tear the gag from his mouth.
“Where’s Everly?” he coughs as the smoke fills his lungs.
“She’s outside. She’s got the gun.”
The rope around his wrists is thick and the knots are hard to undo.
“There’s a knife in my waistband.” Ryker holds his hands up, offering his torso. I slip my fingers under his belt and feel around until I find the knife, pulling it free and start to saw through the threads of the rope.
The heat of the flames is getting closer. It seems like an eternity before I set him free. Back on my hands and knees, I lead the way toward the open doors. The ground is hot, scattered with charred straw. It burns my skin.
“We need to leave before they come. The fire’s going to alert—”
He’s cut off by a gunshot sounding through the air. Leaping to his feet, Ryker dashes through the flames, the name of his sister on his lips.
I follow, ignoring the pain and the heat and pushing through the smoke until I’m outside. Everly is lying on the ground, blood seeping from a wound in her side. Ryker is on top of Sebastian, fists flying, pounding into his face time and time again.
I run over to Everly and fall at her side. She looks up at me with terror filling her eyes. “He overpowered me.” Tears roll down her cheeks. “I couldn’t stop him. I—”
“Shh,” I rip the shirt from my body and stuff it into a ball, pushing it against the stem of blood. “Ryker!”
I look over to where he’s still on top of Sebastian, demented rage controlling his actions. Again and again his fists pound Sebastian’s face. The gun lies discarded off to the side.
“Ryker! We need to get her to a hospital. Ryker!” He’s lost to everything, crazed cries of fury falling from his mouth.
And then I hear them in the distance. A shout. An order yelled.
“They are coming. We need to go, Ryker. We need to get out of here.” But still, he doesn’t hear me. “Ryker!” I scream, my hands still pressed to Everly’s chest.
His head whips around. And within his eyes I see every bad thing Sebastian accused him of. He breathes heavily, his chest heaving up and down, his face splattered with Sebastian’s blood.
“We need to leave,” I say again. “She needs a hospital, now.”
Ryker drags himself off Sebastian and gets to his feet, swaying for a few moments before stumbling over to where Everly lies on the ground. She smiles faintly at him as he lifts her in his arms and holds her against his chest.
“This way,” he says, and staggers off in the opposite direction of the mansion.
The shouts and calls are getting closer. Any minute they’ll be on us. I want to say I give Sebastian one last look or inflict on him a fraction of the pain he has thrown at me, but he is the last thing on my mind as I drag myself after Ryker.
I don’t even think of him.
He’s where he belongs, bloodied and beaten, lying in the dirt.
How we make it through the fields, I don’t know, but somehow, we do. Ryker leads us to an old car, discarded on the side of the road, and tells me to feel for the keys hidden on top of the wheel. Unlocking the car, I help him lower Everly into the back seat. She’s unconscious now, her face pale with lack of blood. Before climbing in after her, Ryker peels the t-shirt from his body and hands it to me.
“You’re naked,” he says at my confused expression.
I laugh. It’s a strange sound. And then I start to cry, giant sobs that hurt as they are wrenched from my body, but I ignore my tears and I pull the shirt over my head before getting behind the wheel.
“Which way?” I ask, staring at the open road before me.
Time slows down. Ryker moves in slow motion as he points in the right direction. I watch his arm rise and his finger extend. I watch as his gaze falls to Everly and he strokes her hair away from her face, his lips forming silent prayers.
The key turns slowly in the ignition and the engine turns over and over before finally engaging and letting out a rough and low rumble. My hands vibrate as they clutch the wheel. My knuckles are white. It seems to take forever for the car to pull out onto the road and follow the pale lines down the strip of gray. Then time speeds up again and the world flashes by me in a blur. Inside my head, someone is screaming. I think it’s me.
Looking into the rear vision mirror, I catch Ryker’s eye. “We should call the police.”
He shakes his head. Blood from Everly’s wound has rubbed over his chest. “The Attertons have contacts. If we speak to the wrong people, they’ll have warning. They’ll hide evidence. They’ll tell you that you are wrong.”
I nod as though it makes perfect sense. I hazard a glance backward, watching as he strokes Everly’s cheek.
“Is it true?” he asks.
I don’t need to ask what. “Yes.”
“We have to save her.”
I don’t know whether he’s referring to Everly or Lily. Either way, it doesn’t matter.
“We have to save them all,” I say.
Everly’s still unconscious wh
en I pull up to the emergency department of the hospital. Her breathing is shallow, and her body is limp as Ryker carries her inside.
“Help!” I yell.
For a split second, all anyone does is stare at us in shock.
An almost naked girl battered and bruised.
A bloodied and shirtless man holding a nearly dead girl.
And then they race into action. A bed is wheeled over for Everly, instruction and orders are yelled, nurses and doctors scurry. Ryker falls to the ground when they take her away, letting his emotions overwhelm him. He cries, and I fall to the ground beside him, wrapping him in my arms, offering what comfort I can.
“It’s okay,” I say, and this time it’s not a lie. “It’s going to be okay. Everly’s going to be okay. The doctors will fix her up. She’ll be fine.”
Letting him go, I crawl on the floor so I’m in front of him, peeling his hands away from his face and peering into his eyes.
“You did it. You saved us.”
Ryker half laughs, half wails. “I did nothing,” he says. “It was all you. You saved me. You saved us.”
And then we cling onto each other in the middle of the hospital floor, wheelchairs and beds, patients and doctors and nurses all weaving a wide circle around us. It’s a long time before I notice the stares and the whispers. Phones are held high, cameras pointed in our direction. My name floats as through the air.
I lift my head to guilty looks, but they keep their phones held high, recording everything.
“You’re her, aren’t you?” Someone calls out.
I blink.
“The girl who was taken?”
I look around the waiting room at all the curious stares.
“Mia Cooper?”
Unsteadily getting to my feet, I walk over to the woman who said my name. Her eyes scan over me, taking in the bruises and welts barely covered by Ryker’s t-shirt.
“Are you recording?” I ask.
She nods. “I’m live streaming. Are you okay?” She lifts her camera closer to my face.
I let out some sort of a noise, wavering between batting the phone away and speaking my truth for all the world to hear. “Not really.”